The Lakers are the hottest ticket in basketball

Lonzo Ball has given a sharp boost to the Lakers’ ticket sales this season. (Getty Images)

Love him or hate him, the fans flocking to watch Lonzo Ball take center stage for the Los Angeles Lakers have skyrocketed the team’s ticket sales.

According to Kurt Helin of NBC Sports, the Lakers lead StubHub in ticket sales on the secondary market and the Lakers’ ticket sales are up almost 130 percent from last season.

Shortly after the 2017 NBA draft, Ball was signaled as the main cause for the Lakers’ season tickets to sell out for the 2017-18 season.

According to ESPN’s J.A. Adande, the Lakers had a 95 percent renewal rate from its season-ticket holders before the draft. But after the signing of the marquee draft pick, the remaining 5 percent of the team’s season-ticket inventory was immediately sold.

Ball isn’t the only hot commodity in L.A., fellow first-rounder Kyle Kuzma has made recent headlines after NBA general managers voted him the 2017 NBA draft’s second-biggest steal behind Dallas Mavericks point guard Dennis Smith Jr. in the annual GM survey. Kuzma was the 27th overall pick and led the Lakers in scoring at the Las Vegas Summer League where he also won championship game MVP.

“While recent success and offseason moves have driven demand amongst NBA ticket buyers on StubHub for teams like the Boston Celtics, we are also seeing a sense of optimism and notable increase in demand for teams that haven’t recently been in the playoffs but have rosters boasting exciting new talent, such as the Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers,” Jessica Erskine, StubHub spokesperson told NBC Sports. “On the road, the Warriors’ talent draws the highest demand with a significant uptick in ticket sales over the average NBA regular-season game.”

The most in-demand ticket for the 2017-18 season is also a Lakers game. It’s when the Golden State Warriors will travel to visit the Lakers on Dec. 18 – also the night the team will be retiring Kobe Bryant’s jerseys. The average ticket price for the game is $660.

This season’s most expensive average ticket is when the Cleveland Cavaliers — now fully loaded with Derrick Rose and Dwyane Wade joining LeBron James — visit the Warriors on Christmas Day. Tickets are being sold for an average of $698.